Holmes leant forward excitedly.
Tell me exactly what happened,' he said.
'On the night of Julia's death,' said Miss Stoner, 'my stepfather
went to his room early. Julia and I were sitting together in
my bedroom. We talked until about eleven o'clock. Then Julia
went to bed.
'All the bedrooms at Stoke Moran are in the same part of the
house. They're all next to each other, on the ground floor.
'The door of each bedroom opens into the same corridor. The
windows look out onto the garden. But there are no doors or
windows from one bedroom to the next.'
'I understand,' said Holmes.
'As Julia was leaving my room that evening, she asked a
strange question.
"Tell me, Helen," she said, "have you ever heard anyone
whistle in the middle of the night?"
"No," I said, in surprise. "Why?"